HRW releases report on arbitrary detention and torture of drug users in Cambodia

last updated Jan 28, 2010

On 25 January 2010, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report on the illegal arrest, arbitrary detention and torture of drug users in Cambodia. The human rights organisation believes that there are currently 11 detention centres specifically designated for drug users in Cambodia in which almost all detainees are held involuntarily, either after being arrested by the police or on request of their relatives. According to HRW, there is no access to legal counsel, no judicial authorisation of detention, nor any oversight or review. Practices of torture and inhuman were found to be widely practiced in the drug detention centres and the conditions of detention often amount to ill-treatment.